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Old 2007-04-08, 01:26   Link #15
Ledgem
Love Yourself
 
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Northeast USA
Age: 38
Note for the power supplies also that if you have more components than there are connectors, you can buy a power splitter. The defaults are the Y cables (it plugs into a molex connector and has two other molex ends that can then power two drives); I have also seen a splitter with three ends, and I bought a 7-connector expander off of eBay. You have to be careful, though. If I connected every single end of that splitter to something like a hard drive, I'd probably overload my PSU. I just use it to power a system fan, a CD drive that's barely used, and two hard drives. Again, calculating voltages is probably the best way to be safe. (I'm not being safe - don't follow my lead!)

Regarding HDCP and DX10, I don't even think it's worth worrying about either. Isn't there something about how every now and then, something in the HDCP standard changes, making all current "HDCP capable" hardware next to useless? I mean, it can play with other HDCP hardware made during its time, but not with newer HDCP devices? I could be wrong, but that was my understanding.

Worry about DX10 only if you have or are planning to upgrade to Vista. DX10 is thinking pretty far ahead... I think DX10 cards will cost much more than DX9 cards and, as Jinto Lin said, they're probably underpowered for what they'd be expected to do. If you're thinking you'd need a DX10 card in the future, maybe downgrade your current graphics card slightly in anticipation of upgrading it in the nearer future (1-2 years), when the offerings for DX10 cards are better.

I'd worry more about the graphics outlets. I use a dual monitor setup with two LCDs, one of which is old and only has a HD15 connector. A lot of the newer cards only have two DVI ports. I know there are converters, and maybe I could still use my old LCD with one of those... but you have to be careful. I've heard something about different DVI port types and how one of them doesn't allow you to use converters that way? Not really sure about that, but something to be aware of and maybe look further into.
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